Bush to stay on base during visit
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
President Bush will spend a few hours resting in Hawai'i later this month while returning home from a trip to Southeast Asia.
The president will arrive the evening of Nov. 20 and depart the following morning for Washington, D.C. — a 15-hour overnighter scheduled to be spent almost entirely on military installations.
No public appearances are planned at this point, said Albert Joaquin, special agent-in-charge for the U.S. Secret Service office in Honolulu.
The president last visited Hawai'i in October 2003, when he attended ceremonies at the USS Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor and visited Pearl Harbor Elementary School.
Air Force One is scheduled to arrive at Hickam Air Force Base at 6:20 p.m., and Bush will spend the night in military housing, either at the air base or nearby Pearl Harbor, Joaquin said.
"The following morning he will have breakfast with the troops at one of the service clubs," he said.
It's not known yet which military personnel will be invited. Breakfast is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. and should last an hour. Then he hits the road for a military briefing.
The White House said Bush will meet with Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of U.S. Pacific Command. The briefing will likely be held at the admiral's hilltop headquarters at Camp Smith.
By 9:10 a.m., the president should be back on Air Force One and his flight to Andrews Air Force Base and the White House.
Joaquin said the president's staff will be in Honolulu on Tuesday to finalize the visit, but he doesn't anticipate much extra time for appearances or unplanned activities.
"The window of opportunity is very small, and he is coming from an exhausting, long trip," Joaquin said. "I don't expect him to do anything while he is here."
In Asia, Bush will meet with Japan's new prime minister and seek to strengthen his friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The president will be joined by Mrs. Bush during the eight-day trip to Asia, which will include stops in Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia, said National Security Adviser Steve Hadley, according to the transcript of a press briefing posted on the White House Web site.
Bush is making the trip to attend the leaders' meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, according to the press briefing. He will discuss economic growth, trade liberalization and trade-related security.
The trip begins Nov. 14.
"The trip to Asia will allow the president to advance the interests of the American people by both partnering with Asian nations to tackle challenges that face us, like terrorism and disease, and by ensuring that American workers and businesses are able to reap the benefits of one of the world's most economically vibrant regions," according to the transcript.
Russell Pang, a spokesman for Gov. Linda Lingle, said the governor's office had no additional information about Bush's stopover.
As of late yesterday, he said, neither the Republican governor nor any other prominent Republicans he was aware of had been asked by the White House to meet with the president during the visit.
Staff writer Derrick DePledge and The Associated Press contributed to this report.Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.
